[Hemisphere]

To keep your PC up to date, download the Secunia Personal Software Inspector: http://secunia.com/products/consumer/psi/

It will make sure that you programs are updated and it will make you less vulnerable to exploits.

[SubAtomic]

here make your own mind up on which Av you want

av-comparatives

You may find this to be of interest

juliansblog

And also this

gibsonresearch

Those three sites give me the false sense of security I need

[amy2311]

(Original post by medbh4805)

Meh twasn't too bad to be honest, I had all my work backed up anyway so it was only a minor inconvenience. I've rebuilt several PC's due to virus damage (I don't watch that much porn)

[medbh4805]

Is sandboxie a good idea? Will it work with my antivirus?

EDIT: And NoScript?

[Final Fantasy]

When building a new PC, I usually installed the drivers that came with the components AFTER the OS is installed first. Then do the Windows Updates. Or Linux equivalent.

I've been using the free edition of AVG anti-virus for almost a decade it seems now, and had no problems, or very few (in which case it was my own fault). In recent years I've no longer used a firewall (the Widows version is enough) and have 2 properly configured routers (for various reasons) with WPA2-AES iirc act as firewalls anyway.

Make sure you have the right security set up and encryption for your router, turn off remote connections/assistance on you computer. Most security problems come from user error.

Just a quick post btw, sorry if it doesn't make sense - haven't coffee yet.

EDIT: Oh and please don't go to the sites some of the people mentioned to "make sure that you programs are updated and it will make you less vulnerable to exploits.".

Most of these are malicious anyway, and you can do it yourself, or set your programs to update automatically or notify you (some will even update from Windows Update), Google Chrome itself updates itself along with Adobe Flash. Don't bother installing unnecessary chunky bloated programs to 'fix' your PC. Always do it yourself.